Key points to note for early spring sweet potato seedling raising

Raising sweet potato seedlings in early spring is the primary step in sweet potato production, because problems caused by seedling quality are relatively common and seriously affect the subsequent growth and yield of sweet potatoes. Therefore, sweet potato seedling raising should be done well. Below, follow the editor to take a look at the notes on early spring sweet potato seedling raising.

1. Build the seedling bed

Before raising sweet potato seedlings, a greenhouse should be built early to promote a rise in ground temperature. The site for building the seedling bed should choose a new plot where sweet potatoes have not been planted (or used for seedling raising). If it is a fixed seedling bed, use new soil or substrate free of pests and diseases, and use fungicides and insecticides to thoroughly disinfect the seedling bed to prevent damage from nematode disease, black spot disease, black mole disease, and so on.

2. Sow seed potatoes for seedling raising at the right time

Before sowing seed potatoes for seedling raising, first select high-efficiency varieties. When introducing varieties, also take local environment and climate into consideration to avoid losses. Sweet potato planting time is from early March to mid-April, and it takes about 35 days from sowing to cutting seedlings. Recently the temperature is relatively low, so it is even more necessary to prevent damage from late spring cold. When arranging seed potatoes, choose sunny days with higher temperatures to prevent freezing. If the weather turns colder after sowing, do not water; you can add one or two layers of small arched sheds to raise the temperature of the seedling bed and prevent the bed from rotting.

3. Choose virus-free seed potatoes

For sweet potatoes that had viral diseases such as leaf curl during last year's sweet potato propagation, they must not be used as seed potatoes. Virus-free seed potatoes should be chosen to prevent leaf curl disease and viral diseases and ensure yield and quality. The seed potatoes used for seedling raising should have the characteristics of the original variety, be free of pests and diseases and wounds, and not have suffered freezing injury, waterlogging injury, or mechanical damage, with a moderate tuber size. Seed potatoes can be disinfected by soaking in warm water or with chemical agents, and can also be concentrated for high-temperature sprouting. After the tubers sprout, sow them, and after sowing, spread phoxim to control sweet potato stem nematode disease.

4. Strengthen seedling-stage management

The low-temperature growth temperature for sweet potatoes is 16 degrees, the suitable growth temperature is between 25-35 degrees, and the humidity is around 80%. When the sweet potato seedlings grow to 25 cm, lower the temperature to about 20 degrees and harden the seedlings for 2-3 days. Leave stubble of about 3 cm and use high cutting for seedlings; do not pull the seedlings. Then use clean soil, add rooting agent, fungicide, and insecticide, add water and mix into a milky mud slurry, dip the base of the sweet potato seedlings in the mud slurry, which helps rooting and seedling recovery and prevents pests and diseases.

The above is an introduction to the notes on early spring sweet potato seedling raising. We hope it can help you. If you want to learn more related knowledge, please stay tuned to us.